


ROAD TRIP

by Tinky_wink



Category: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, How Do I Tag, Modern Era, My First Fanfic, Road Trips, This Is STUPID, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Why Did I Write This?, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2020-10-14 00:42:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20591810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinky_wink/pseuds/Tinky_wink
Summary: To get everyone used to the future, Jacob proposes to take the boys on a road trip out into the world while Miss P takes over the girls activities.To everybody's dismay, Miss Peregrine agrees. They get lost, the luggage gets nicked, nobody can get along and certain people are apparently fluent in other languages. What can go wrong? Lmao there's alot of Horace in this one ngl.Mixed between book and movie and also Victors alive for some reason.





	1. INFORMATION

Hey guys, Guess who's still salty about the movie? you guessed it. ME. 

okay, because I kinda like the idea of little brothers to big brothers kind of thing (such as thunderbirds are go!.....Alan is so adorable!) the ages are going to be kind of mixed up. I hated the way that the movie made most of the boys smaller and younger, but I've always wanted Enoch to be older so I'm cool with that. Here are the ages:

Enoch: 17

Jacob: 17

Millard: 16

Victor: 16

Hugh: 17

Horace: 13

backgrounds info: (short and to the point)

Enoch : Parents used to own a funeral home. Had a nice life. Mother, Father and two sisters called Mary and Kathy. They all got scared when he used his power to help move some boxes. Terrified and confused, they turned him away. Met Miss P when he was sleeping in a dingy hotel his first night away from home. Stingy, rude, but caring at times. was 13 years old.

Jacob: Falsely diagnosed with schizophrenia by parents. Endured medication and pitying looks until he discovered other people could see the monsters blood after stabbing one with a pair of scissors in a crowded shopping mall. This meant that they were real. Had a massive fight with his parents over this and left home. Sought out Miss P herself. Confused, normal, good kid, happy. was 17 years old.

Millard: He had a nice family. He was accepted after turning invisible and was made as comfortable as possible. Was out walking alone at night when confronted by a hollow, and almost didn't make it. Was saved by Miss P and was explained to what would happen to his family if he stayed with them. Heartbroken, he packed and left home, leaving a note to his family in his place. Smart, quirky, funny and nice. was 15 years old. Can turn viasable.

Victor: Spent 3 years protecting his sister from his abusive father after their mother died from cancer. Lived in a nice house. One day dad came home drunk and tried to smash Victors head against the wall so hard he would've potentially died. Bronwyn jumped on his back and accidently broke his neck. Miss P met them when they were on the run. Smart, supportive, protective, fun older brother type. was 14 years old.

Hugh: Lived with a nice family in the countryside. Had two parents and a 20 year old brother who used to take him out to pollinate his bees. His father lost his job and they had to move to an apartment in London, where he met Enoch. After Enoch disappearing, he left in search for him. Found the both of them just about to get in a car. In one last attempt to see Enoch again, he sent his bees after the car. Recruited my Miss P to join the family. Didn't hesitate. Smart, carefree, don't get on the wrong side of him, prankster, knows when to be serious. was 14 years old.

Horace: Born in England, was sent away to boarding school in the country year round because parents couldn't be bothered to comfort him after his nightmares. Had a good couple friends at his school. When the time came to go home for the break Parents picked him up and set off back to England. As they were driving a giant tree log came undone from the lorry on the cliff above them. Completely smashed into the front of his car, crushing his Parents right in front of him, impaling him on shards of glass from the windows and knocking their car off the road. Was pulled out a couple hours later by paramedics and taken the hospital. needed Stitches and a temporary wheelchair. Miss P found him in the hospital, claiming to be a god parent. Has a couple of big scars on his stomach, but nothing life threatening. Intelligent, shy, quiet, small, nice, fun once he opens up. was 10 years old.

well, I feel sad writing that. Oh well. Now you know I guess. And also, the only reason I'm writing Horace with such a sad story, is because he's like really scared in the books and kinda a pussy, and I just wanted there to be a reason behind that instead of making it so that he's just a gimp. I prooooobably could've toned it down though to be honest :))))))) Trust me, there's nothing too deep in here.

-Sophie (Tinky_wink)


	2. We're doing what?...

"Millard?"

"yeah?"

"why are you in the boot of the mini van?"

It was a beautiful day in America, with clear skies and warm breeze making a perfect opportunity for small children to have picnics or play outside in the park. Families were making the most of the weather to travel to the beach, to visit other friends or family, sit down somewhere nice like an outdoor café, or just using the time to do their forgotten jobs and chores. Miss Peregrine had moved them away from wales to be closer to her sick brother, choosing for them to live in a big 2 storey house because a regular house was too small for all 13 of them. 6 boys, (Jacob, Millard, Enoch, Hugh, Victor and Horace) and 6 girls (Emma, Bronwyn, Olive, Claire, Fiona, Miss Peregrine), and they all needed their own space. Unfortunately, they still needed to pair up. Emma and Bronwyn had to share a room, as well has Olive, Claire and Fiona, Jacob and Millard, Enoch and Hugh, and Victor shared with Horace, as he was the one most experience with nightmares. Everyday was a schedule, breakfast was between 8AM and 9AM, unless someone was so drop dead tired that they got to sleep in (usually Horace, though he hates being out of schedule), lunch was 2PM to 3PM, and dinner was 6PM and 7PM. As long as your chores got done, you could do whatever you wanted in between. It was at dinner when Jacob began to realise how out of tune they were with each other, which seemed a bit unusual, as some had been with the others years before him. Enoch was talking with Olive, looking carefree but Jacob could see his eyes dart towards the window and back to Olive's face all of the time. To Jacob, Enoch was reserved, and would bite your head off if you so much as looked at him the wrong way, and Olive was sweet and kind, opting to take care of you instead of hurt you. He had no idea how they got on so well. The rest of the girls and Miss Peregrine were towards the end of the table, talking about something or another in hushed voices and kept giggling at odd intervals, except Emma. She was generally more composed, but had a wide smile on her face, as did Miss P. He himself was currently engaged in a conversation with the rest of the boys, observing them as they talked. Victor and Hugh were arguing on what the best fast food restaurant in America was with wild hand gestures punctuating every word. 

"Burger king." Victor said, crossing his arms with a smug expression on his face, like he'd just won with that sentence alone.

"No, McDonalds is the best!" Hugh argued, making a spazzed hand motion that looked like he was tying invisible knots with one hand, and looked around for the rest of the boys for backup. Jacob snuck a glance around too, trying not to laugh, but he failed to stop his smirk. Millard's clothes were visibly vibrating as he chuckled to himself, form flickering rapidly and uncontrollably, to caught up in his laughter to really answer Hugh's request. Horace wasn't far from Millard's state, body shaking with the laughter he hid behind his hand and eyes squeezed shut. He regained his breath and looked at Victor, ready to deal the final blow.

"Sorry Victor, but have you ever tried the chicken selects? To DIE for!" he laughed at Victors betrayed expression. Hugh fist bumped the air and pointed at Victor in triumph.

"HA Victor, see! HORACE knows what's best! So take your popcorn chicken loving ass somewhere else!" He nearly screamed, to caught up in the moment to care. That was Hugh, Jacob thought. Fun, childish and always in a good mood. He was rarely without a smile, or his partner in crime Millard. He swore those two could get away with murder, he thought with a slight head shake, angling his head towards Horace, Millard and Victor, Where Millard had completely lost it at the sight of Victor swatting the 13 year old across the head at every new word. 

"You.were.meant.to.agree.with.me" 

"Not going to happen any time soon!"

But no matter how much all of the children bantered with each other, it was clear to Jacob that they were sick and tired of the same area, and were getting bored with doing the same things everyday. This dinner was also when he hatched his devious plan. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days of begging and extra chores later, he cleared his throat and stood up from the table, attracting the attention and silence of the peculiars. He threw his arms open and beamed a large smile.

"we are GOING on a road trip!" 

The piece of chicken hanging down fell from Enoch's mouth and landed on his plate with a wet plop.

"You fuckin' what!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Yeah I don't read these afterwards so it's probably shite. If the bit at the end confuses you, it's because I'm also on wattpad, which is where I posted the original story, you can find me at Pip_Head_Luther! Yes I also love the umbrella academy lmao. I do have more chapters btwwwww


	3. Maybe this was a mistake

A week later and it was the day they were due to leave. They had gone through countless different locations, what to bring and who was sitting where in the mini van. They had decided to go to Lyon, France, because the scenery was something to experience in real life, and it was far enough to give them some freedom away from the bird, and gave them the opportunity to try something new (Plus it was as far as the bird let Jacob take them, but he wasn't going to tell them that). Due to Olive getting the flu, the girls had actually decided to stay in America with the bird, planning to go on shopping trips, bowling, eating junk food and trips out about. Lets just say Jacob was a LITTLE offended when Hugh wanted to stay in America too. 

"But Miss P, Bowling!" Hugh whined. For some reason, as Hugh made new friends a school, they had opted to take him bowling for their first day out and now he was completely hooked. Before long, Jacob mused, it would become a problem. But Miss Peregrine was stubborn,

"No, Hugh. You deserve to get out of the house and explore, while I get quality time with my girls. How can we possibly do that when you're larking about?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. She had a point. End of discussion. It was clear to Jacob and Miss P that some of the boys didn't want to go. The ratio was this:

who wanted to go: Victor, Jacob, Millard

who didn't want to: Horace, Hugh, Enoch.

But even then they were still going, despite Enoch and Hugh's constant grumbling. Horace wanted to stay too, but would never defy the bird. Ever.

That's how the boys found themselves outside on the driveway at 8 in the morning, trying to fit everyone's rucksacks and duffel bags into the boot of the minivan, and that's how they also had to limit everyone to one of each. This meant that Horace, Hugh and Jacob had to get creative with packing and folded their clothes as small as physically possible, with ALOT of complaining from them as to how wrinkled they would be, and relieved sighs from the others as they realised that they had Wi-Fi for a bit longer. The girl side of the family had already left for the shopping mall, making the absolute opportunity of the boys leaving by spending and buying as much as much as they could. Jacob stuffed his duffel in the boot and slammed the door, panting slightly and picked up his phone to check his Snapchat one last time.

_Hugh_Apiston_0123_ has uploaded 1 new Snapchat

Oh.  
Oh dear.  
With a growing sense of dread, he hovered his thumb over the notification, and tapped the screen softly. He was immediately annoyed. Hugh had just about got his eye into the bottom left corner of the picture, a wobbly peace sign in tow. He had managed to get all the ugly angles of him and Enoch trying to force down the boot of the minivan earlier, panting and red faced, heads bent at such an angle that their chin had seemed to multiply into several. Meanwhile Millard had apparently seen the camera, and as to not get caught he seemed to have thrown himself down on the floor to look like discarded clothes or to duck under the cameras watchful eye. However, he didn't do it quick enough, and there just seemed to be a pile of blurred clothes and brown curly hair making a nosedive towards the ground like they'd been thrown. In the background of the picture Horace and Victor were talking. Somehow ( Jacob could make a pretty good guess) even with his back turned Horace was prepared for the photo, throwing up a perfect peace sign without looking, still in the middle of talking with Victor. It stunned him how someone younger than them knew everything there was to know about social media, and he's not going to lie, sometimes it irked him. Like when he discovered a vine that came out he tried using it in a sentence to confuse Enoch ( the guy rarely paid attention to his phone) he only had to say one sentence before the prophet finished it off, causing weird looks all around. Victor was apparently confused about why his brother chucked up a peace sign in his face if his amazing expression was anything to go by, and no he did not screenshot it for later!

He sighed, putting his phone in his back pocket. 'Time to go', he thought. He clapped his hands once and said,  
"Alright alright let's go let's go!" The boys complied immediately, scrambling into the mini van and into their designated seats. The seating plan was like this:

B Millard Hugh Jacob   
O  
Victor front  
O  
T food/drink Horace Enoch

Once everyone was in place and seatbelts were on, everybody started to settle down. Millard started to read, Hugh and victor listened to music, Horace started watching "now you see me" on Netflix with his headphones and Jacob put on some music while he and Enoch chatted.  
It looked as if the trip would start out smoothly, if the relaxed air was anything to go by, until Millard started to whine.  
"Jaaake, I need to use the bathroom!" Making every one freeze and slowly turn. Millards face remained serious until it cracked, a laugh bubbling it's way up through his lips and into the annoyed silence.  
"I'm just joking! I went half hour ago!" Horace threw his hands up and spun around in a huff.  
"Millard, je jure devant DIEU que je vais vous vider!" He huffed, eyes narrowed as he went back to watching his film. It took him another 10 seconds to realise everybody was staring at him with various degrees of shock, and he felt himself blushing over the attention.

"What? Just-just go back to whatever you were doing!" 

Jacob let out a long breath as with suspicious glances everyone went along with Horaces words and he backed out of the driveway. He could only hope this was going to go well, and hope it wasn't going to bite him in the ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What am I even doing......I'm so badddd. Yeah btw I'm NOT fluent in French, so I used Google Translate, but it can be very unreliable. It's meant to say "Millard I swear to GOD i will gut you!"  
Thanks for the 2 ppl who gave me kudos! I started properly yesterday 😂  
If the Millard face bit confused you, in the first chapter I said that he would be able to turn visible and invisible at will, just for the sake of the plot... Tata for now!


	4. Lost?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when idiots are left at the mercy of other, older, more stupider idiots.

GUYS BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO GET TO FRANCE FROM FLORIDA SO IM MAKING STUFF UP! I'VE ONLY BEEN TO FRANCE ONCE WITH THE SCHOOL AND WE LIVE IN WALES SO IM GOING TO COPY WHAT WE DID SORRY.

Great. Fanfuckingtastic. They had GPS's, Maps, Millard's knowledge, online instructions, and they had STILL managed to get lost. How you ask? Take a look for yourself.

It had been an hour since they had left the driveway and Jacob already had a nervous sweat. The plan was to keep driving, making some stops along the way, towards the coast, and catch the ferry there that was waiting. All the tickets had been booked online and there were spots on the ferry waiting for them and their minivan. The problem was, Jacob really should have paid more attention to Miss P when she explained what route he was going to take. Enoch was in the front with Jacob and it didn't take long to realise that there was something wrong. Well, if Jacobs face looking like a startled cat that had been hit in the face by a fly was anything to go by, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. He leant over the console a little and dropped his voice low as to not be overheard.

"Probably should have paid more attention to the bird huh?" he chuckled. He downright laughed when Jacobs head turned so fast towards him he swore he could hear his neck crack. Jacob gulped.

"That obvious?" he tried. Enoch put his fingers together and parted them a little to demonstrate how obvious he had been. Jacob sighed with relief until Enoch decided to widen the gap as far as his arms would let him. Jacob glared at him before directing his eyes back to the road.

"Gee, thanks"

Meanwhile in the middle seats, Hugh groaned. "I'm so hungryyyyyyyy" he announced, grabbing his stomach and making faces at Horace, who laughed slightly. He faked a pout.

"Aw, poor baby Hugh! Starving to death aaaaallllll alone" Hugh caught on, and mimicked his little brother. He slapped a hand on his forehead and grabbed his heart dramatically.

"Oh how you WOUND me young sir! I shall remember this betrayal for the REST of my days!"

"From the way you're acting it sounds like you don't have many left" chipped in Millard, who had been listening from the back. Jacob and Enoch chuckled from the front, flipping down their visors as the sun came out from behind the trees on either side of the highway. Victor was the only one not listening, too out of it with his ear buds and book until Hugh screamed,

"HOW DARE YOU" like a schoolgirl and spun around, spare hand accidently knocking victor on the chin. The car went silent. Millard and Horace stared on in horror, Enoch looking through the mirror and Jacob glancing up every 2 seconds. Hugh whimpered as victor calmly looked up, taking out his ear buds one by one, and closing his book softly. He cleared his throat gently and slowly- painstakingly - turned towards Hugh. Hugh squealed as strong hands yanked his water bottle from his grasp and emptied the contents on his head, a small smile on his face all the while. He spluttered in silent embarrassment as four different types of laughter laughed at his expense. Jacobs, wheezing and special, making Enoch laugh like his life depend on it, deep and varied, Millard absolutely BUTCHERING his vocal cords in the back by guffawing as loud as possible and Horace's giggly (but still loud) laughter, not even trying to hide it this time. Victor grinned, holding out a flannel from god knows where and handing it to Hugh. After everyone calmed down (breathing still shaky as hell), Millard spoke up again. 

"You know, I'm actually pretty hungry too...... I've only had cereal and toast" Horace nodded.

"Yeah I'm really hungry too. I didn't have breakfast this morning." That got raised eyebrows from pretty much everybody. Victor sighed and turned his head dramatically towards the boy sitting next to him.

"Really? I swear to god you need to start eating more. You can't keep skipping meals." Horace looked unbothered. "Eh. It's nothing new. And hey, i don't SKIP meals, I just can't eat as much as you lot." Things were silent for a second until Millard screamed,

"this is why you're A MIDGET" Horace turned around in his seat threateningly and glared at Millard. "You wanna say that again you goddamn beanpole?" and suddenly everyone except Millard was in peals of laughter once again. Millard threw up his hands in surrender and Horace turned back around. Horace leant forward and poked Enoch's shoulder. He turned around with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes tiny malnourished child?" He drawled, accent becoming more pronounced in amusement. Horace narrowed his eyes for a second before grinning. oh no. that was a scary smile. 

"Weeeeellll," he began. "Since this child is so... 'malnourished', maybe you would be so kind as to stop at the nearest McDonalds.... I mean, if you love your littlest brother that is." he smiled sweetly. Enoch looked in shock for all of two seconds. "Blackmail? really? You've been hanging around with Hugh and Millard too much." Horace waved him off.

"I mean its fine. I know you're probably too busy to worry about me, and my cravings." Enoch smirked, "oh how right you are." And that was went Horace dropped the bombshell. He leant forward towards the both of them and whispered (much like a devil on their shoulder).

"the way I see it you have two options. One, we could go get McDonalds, or two, I could tell everyone in this car that you two have gotten us hopelessly lost?" Jacob and Enoch's heads whipped towards the only male child of the family and back towards each other.

"MCDONALDS IT IS GUYS WHAT ARE YALL HAVING!" Enoch and Jacob screamed while Horace sat down, arms crossed with a smug smile on his face. Meanwhile Hugh and Millard high-fived and started discussing what they would have.

"Does McDonalds sell pancakes? They do right? Or the little porridge things?"

"Im thinking bacon roll. With loads of tomato sauce. Like, Loads of tomato sauce."

"you fucking heathen-"("language!")"- I'll have you know that it is BROWN sauce that accompanies the bacon roll!"

"Since when!?"

"since forever!"

"Hey Victor?"

"Yeah Horace?"

"What are you having? We are going to be there soon." 

"I don't know.... maybe a bagel? They do those right?"

"yeah they do those."

The two teens in the front shared a secretive smile as they spotted the tell tale trademark yellow M. To be honest, Jacob was surprised it was so close, this being a super long highway and all. Weaving his way between two honking cars, Jacob made his way through the lanes until they were on the turning point to enter the wide lane that diverts into a gas station or to the McDonalds car park. Enoch winced as Jacob drove past a car that was reversing out of a parking space, raising a hand in apology as the driver made pervy eye contact with him in the mirror. He turned to Jacob.

"Cant you drive more carefully Portman? I don't want to get into an accident." He grumbled, rolling his eyes. Suddenly, a high pitched voice sounded from the seats behind him.

"We could crash!?" He spun around in his seat only to lock eyes with a suddenly frightened thirteen year old. His eyes were open and his body was still, blonde hair still swaying with how fast he had apparently turned to the front. By now everybody was listening. 'Shit' he thought. While they all had brotherly relationships with one another, he was not someone who could comfort people easily. In fact, he was almost always the one who made them cry in the first place. He waved his hands around, floundering around for words to say before Victor gladly saved him. He poked his brothers arm and spoke to him.

"Us? Crash? pshhhh nahhhhhh! We're peculiar! There's no WAY we would crash! Right guys?" With everyone agreeing, Horace visibly calmed down. Victor frowned, silently cursing Enoch for saying the "c" word, being the only one at all that knew exactly how the younger came to be at miss Peregrines in the first place. Meanwhile Horace shook his head, screams from THAT day flashed in his mind, the whole process happened again in the blink of an eye. The blood, the PAIN, the painstakingly long hours he was trapped in the mangled death trap with two rotting corp- no. He wasnt going to go down that route. He took a deep breath and turned towards the front. Jacob sweat dropped as Horace glared at him in the mirror. 

"Jacob you get us killed and I'll kill you." Thankfully he was saved from answering as he pulled up through the drive through.

"Hello there welcome to McDonald's! How may I take your order?" a chipper female voice sang from the order box. Jacob leaned out of the window slightly and spoke as loud and as clear as possible, much to the amusement of the other people in the car. He definitely didn't do it on purpose to lighten the atmosphere, not at all. 

"Hello! Can I please have a bacon and egg Mcmuffin, no wait- make that two-, two bacon rolls, one with tomato sauce and one with brown,- "YES!""SCORE!"- One bagel please, buttered, aaaaanddddd-" He spun backwards. "Horace what are you having?" Said boy shrugged.

"A muffin?" he asked, not bothered. "I don't really eat big things." Jacob nodded. "okay." Once again he turned around and without missing a beat he said "A box of pancakes, a muffin, and an oat so simple pot with syrup please." he finished. Horace shot up like a bullet and threw his hands up in a "What!?" gesture.

"Really Jake!? I wont be able to eat all of that!" he hissed. Jake rolled his eyes. "Eat what you can. Hugh will eat the rest." Hugh looked unbelievably happy with his predicament. Once again the chipper voice spoke up.

"I've got all that sir! would you like any drinks with that?" "Uh yeah sure thanks I'll have just a regular coffee, guys what are we having?" 

"Me and victor will have the same as you." Hugh said.

"I'll have a cappuccino" said Millard.

"Same here" pitched in Enoch.

"And I'll have a latte please" Horace finished. Millard snorted. "How old are you?" A glare in his direction shut him right up. Jacob recited the order back to the girl in the box and pulled out his credit card. 

"That will be $19.01 please!" And thank you young man for coming to McDonalds...." The voice took on a deeper tone that left Jacob speechless. Nevertheless they thanked the girl and rolled the car forward, waiting behind a big blue car in the queue. Enoch shifted sideways, an evil look on his face.

"Hey Jacob, is that a blush you're sporting?" he asked, grinning. Jacob fumbled around for a moment, put out by being caught out. "W-what the- what-no I mean- well- I mean- uh- what are you talking-wait-no okay so- she sounds pretty- h-hot I guess?" he stammered. Everyone burst out into giggles. Hugh looked up from his instagram, skipping a promo of Kim Kardashian. God he hated her.   
"yeah, she sounds like a right babe!" he wiggled his eyebrows. "high voice, but old enough to work." Horace shook his head. 

"Don't." he warned. Hugh raised his eyebrows, leaning forward to see him better. "Don't? Don't what? Fall in love with that AMAZING voice! Did you HEAR the sultry tone at the end? Wait no- thirteen year old. Forget I said that." Horace sighed, a small knowing smile played his lips. "well. Don't say I didn't warn you." 

Jacob ran his hands through his hair and Hugh rolled the window down, leaning his arm against it and putting some shades on. Victor did a double take, as he was 100% sure they were his and in his pocket right then. "I wanna look slick " he said. Millard and Victor laughed. "SLICK!?" Victor laughed. "The slickest thing you've ever done is butter a frying pan" he chortled. Hugh huffed. "and she loved it." Jacob let out a large breath through his nose, a small smile on his face. "Get ready Hugh, here's the window now." Jesus Christ all of this for a 2 second window of maybe (hopefully) a little boob of the female agenda.

The next car moved onto the food window, prompting their minivan to roll forward. They came up to the windows and gave their best 'sexy' smiles. Their smiles were replaced with pure terror. pure, clear, strong terror. Instead of the cute girl they were expecting, there was an acne covered teen with greasy pink hair up to his neck. Yes, you heard right. HIM. Not there was anything wrong with that, but Jacob and Hugh still felt their hearts break inside. He smiled creepily at them, the dark brown wispy moustache shivering as he spoke to them. 

"Believe me man, I hate this just as much as you do. But hey, it brings in customers." He spoke in the girly voice that had captured the attention of many a young souls, the two brothers being merely a small fraction of that amount. They looked faintly green. When they boys didn't answer him, he held out the card scanner. 

"Here man, just pay and go. Don't worry, the last guy nearly shit himself and asked for the "girly minx that served him."" Jacob did what he asked at Barry Allen speed, swiping the card frantically as his face reddened dramatically. Hugh took off his shades, sliding back into the car numbly as the guy smiled at them once more, and directed them to the next window. It was silent for all of 3 seconds.

"I tried to warn you"

"YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN" "OH COME ON"

"nobody EVER listens to the kids."

"goddamnit Horace"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruh I'm sorry but this is flopping lmaooooo  
I'm so bad at writing actual stories this is a jokeeee


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people's pasts are harder to swallow than others.

_ **Warning- this chapter talks/mentions car crashes and death- possible trigger (HORACE CENTRIC BASICALLY) ** _

Jacob bit into his Mcmuffin with gusto, huffing slightly through his nose as he chewed it thoughtfully. He was always slightly nervous whenever he had to drive one handed, especially to eat. His father always tells the story of his uncle every Christmas who almost swerved off the road eating half a container of scrambled eggs and bacon bits. Enoch mirrored him in the passenger seat, spare hand coming up to catch the crumbs that escaped the cavern he called a mouth, leaning forward and almost chocking himself on his seatbelt as he did so. Behind him he could hear Millard's exclamation of disgust and a wet slap as the teen apparently got the wrong sauce and decided to launch the offending item straight at Hugh's face, the source of the wet slapping sound. This lead to a flurry of movement and noise as the two started bickering about this and that and tomato sauce smeared up Hugh's nose and eyebrow. ("Why the FUCK would you throw that" "It was offending my eyesight" "YOU'RE offending my eyesight" "On one hand though you should consider dying your eyebrows red, you'd bring in heaps of ladies I'd bet")

Jacob stuffed the last bite into his mouth and crumpled the wrapper, risking a glance through the mirror to monitor the other two suspiciously quiet members of the van. Enoch, for a lack of something better to do turned around to see what the hell was causing world war 3 in the back, nearly hitting his head on the roof from how tall he was. His eyebrow started the harrowing trek further and further up his forehead as of 3 seconds in. It seemed that while Hugh was busy shoving his face up and down Jacobs headrest trying to rid himself of his red.....problem, Millard was busy licking crumbs off his hands greedily and Victor was busy balancing Horace's food in his lap while simultaneously finishing off the last of his bagel. Meanwhile Horace was slowly eating the tiny golden pancakes, the container gripped tightly in his lap as he glared out the window, daring the world to do something. _Try it_, he seemed to say, _I'll screw you twice over. This van can't contain this burning hate for you, you stupid fucking trees._ The van bumped a little which sent Hugh's face sprawling into the back of the headrest, muffling his cry of surprise, which also moved Horace's hand a little, and Enoch got a glimpse inside the medium sized white box on his lap. He had only touched one. His confused gaze caught the attention of Victor, who followed his line of sight to the subject to the side of him. Victor nudged his brother to the right of him, making the younger startle a little and turn his body towards him from the window, swallowing the tiny bite he had managed to stomach. "Yeah Vic?" He asked, taking notice that the two in the front were listening too, even though Millard and Hugh were doing their own thing together at the other side of the van. Victor nodded his head towards the hardly eaten breakfast in his hand, asking, "Its been 10 minutes bud, and you've only eaten one. What's wrong?" Realisation lit up Horace's eyes and his mouth made a small 'o' shape. He put an arm around his stomach (almost protectively) and flashed a small smile.

"Ooooh its nothing really! I'm just not that hungry that's all! And you know, I always prefer miss P's pancakes anyway so-" he was interrupted mid babble by by Hugh who had apparently caught the word "pancakes" and his stomach acted for him, swinging around Victor with greedy eyes. "If you're not eating them can I have them?" The youngest nodded but Victor put a hand on the box, immobilizing it.

"No Hugh, he's going to eat them." Horace narrowed his eyes, and tuning out Hugh's little 'aww' spoke up.

"I won't actually, so he can have them Vic. I've still got plenty of other stuff for later." Victor stared at him for a second, scrutinizing him, seemingly thinking of something to say before deciding on, "You can't do anything in the car, can you?" Horace looked like he was debating with himself before deciding to lean back and come forward. "No," he said matter of factly. "I can't. Especially not eat, it makes me queasy." Jake, who had been silent in the front seat inquired "Aw nuts are you carsick? I didn't know, I'm sorry Horace, I could have gotten some travel sickness tablets for you!" The young boy chuckled softly, closing his eyes and humming a tuneless note, "Don't worry Jake, _ça va,_ I'm not carsick. Its a.....oh how do you say...oh! 'A mental setback'" he struggled with the words for a second, using air quotation marks, "as according to the stupid doctor and physio therapist who hate me." He gave a flippant wave with his left hand. Enoch shared a look with Jacob next to him, swallowing thickly. "Doctor...mental setback? What are you talking about?" Beside Horace Victor stiffened, shaking his head minutely. Horace scoffed.

"Victor you must think I'm blind. And to answer your question Enoch, my mental setback is that I'm terrified of cars or vans, or anything with four wheels because my parents were crushed in their car on the way back from my school in England by a _one tonne oak tree _log on its way to be made into WHATEVER which some fool hadn't strapped down properly. Their car skidded off the road into a ditch. They died on impact of course but it doesn't change the fact that every time I get into a car I feel like I'm going to die." He said with a strange little smile, and with sad eyes. while he told his story he could feel the mounting horror from the participants in the car, and truth be told while he liked a bit of attention he didn't want this much, and not this kind. "Oh my God.....Hor- I'm so sorry" Millard said softly from the back. Sometimes he forgot that they were all adopted with how close they were. It was hard to remember that there were grey areas in which peoples past came into play. Horace snorted, waving a hand.

"Don't worry Mil, it was 3 years ago, I'm mostly past it now anyway. I only saw them a couple times a year." Hugh knew he shouldn't ask. He knew he shouldn't. But then again he had never had a filter in the first place. "How..how did you find out?" Enoch gave him a sharp look from the front seemingly saying what the hell is wrong with you? You don't ask someone that. Victor gave the ground a sad sigh and that made little alarm bells ring in the remaining boys, excluding Horace. It was no secret that they were the closest out of each other. As soon as Horace arrived he latched onto Victor and Victor took on the role of big brother instantly, spending free time making him feel welcome, even though at the time Horace hardly talked and mostly communicated by standing near what he wanted to talk or ask about and hold it until someone played the guessing game with him, thumbing the object with a shy little smile on his face. It took a while, but he eventually started to talk and the family discovered a very different personality. In fact the first words Hugh heard him say was "no go away" to Enoch after he tried to steal a fry. Speaking of Which, the youngest huffed, bringing up a leg to prop his chin on, turning his attention to the offender.

"I didn't have to find out. I was in the car with them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruh 2 chapters in a day what's wrong with me.....tell me how I'm doing yeah? Idk if I'm shit or not 😶


	6. Calais

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's revisit these loveable idiots shall we?

**So uuuuuh.... I'm not dead? The last time this fanfiction was updated was December of 2019, and due to the fact most of my effort has been on wattpad writing my headcanons au, I completely forgot about this until someone commented....love you guys.... it's 4am if there's any mistakes just ignore them xoxo**

The car was dead silent. Each male stewed in their own horror as they heard those jagged words.

_I was in the car with them._   


Victor ran his hands down his face and breathed heavily, wondering distantly if things were all going to go to shit within the confined space of an old minivan. Enoch had turned around straight after that statement, eyes darting left at Jacob constantly as though he could send his horrified thoughts via his mind. Jacob however, was muttering an onslaught of curses, but the ones he had now settled on was his favourite curse of _whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck. _Millard was, for once, silent in the back, his brain working overtime to really digest what he was being told.

Hugh was staring. Horace matched his stare with his own level gaze. People often reacted this way, although adults hid it better. The nurses and doctors in the hospital looked down upon him in the hospital bed with eyes soft with pity and unshed tears. At this point he was used to it. He used to bask in the attention, let the nurses stroke their hands through his hair as they changed his bandages and checked his oxygen levels, but quickly grew tired of it. He didn't want to be treated like a piece of glass that was half shattered! Although he'd admit, he hadn't escaped without a few cracks, the slight pulsing on each side of his ribs getting more pronounced the longer he thought about it. He didn't like the reactions then, and he didn't like them now, only this time he would show it.

"Don't be like that guys. I'm still alive, aren't I?" He laughed, hands splayed out in a 'what can you do'/jazzhands gesture. He was met by confused noises as people tried to figure out what the fuck they could say next without sounding too bad. 

Victor sighed again. 

"This isn't the best way to tell everyone I'll admit, but they were bound to see your stomach anyway, considering we'll be changing around eachother more often, right? It's better than them not knowing nothing and seeing....those." And Horace readily agreed. 

"It feels nice finally telling people, though I probably could have done it more tactfully....sorry guys!" He chirped, shrugging. 

Millards mind was running a mile a minute. His youngest brother, the smallest brother by far, had obviously been in a traumatizing accident, but was acting unaffected. He Couldn't tell if he was hiding his true feelings, had moved on completely and was fine talking about it now, (he had mentioned them not seeing him alot, and when he had arrived at the home as a new addition he had been practically mute.), or it was simply because he was numb to it all. 

He decided to test the boundaries anyway.

"Stomach...." he questioned, Horace swivling his head around to give him a bright, although questioning, smile. "What happened with your stomach? About what Vic said?" 

Horace spared a glance around before saying confidently, "My scars. I got scars from the accident. From where the glass from the shattered window impaled me on the way down." He said it with a wave of his hand, bumping against victors side and linking arms. Everybody in the car did a full body flinch, practically imagining the scenario and the wreckage with vivid imaginations. Hughs mouth hung open, and Henry floated out, buzzed lazily around the van, and then floated back into his mouth, which he then closed.

"Before any of you say _anything, _I actually think they're pretty cool, no matter how I got them, so shush and move on!" He said good naturedly. Enoch had turned back around to face them at this point and Hugh had stopped his intense staring. 

Victor scoffed, thumbing open his book again. 

"You only think they're cool now because Katie and jack said they were." He mumbled with a sly smirk.

Pandemonium temporarily broke out as Horace started attacking Victor playfully, jabbing him in the ribs and slapping his arms, while the rest of the van, grateful for the excuse, amped up the noise. Hugh and Millard yelled out and jerked like maniacs while Enoch and Jacob tried to speak over them and make themselves heard.

"OOOOOOOOOOHHHHH"

"WHO'S KATIE, HMM-?" 

"Bro is she your girlfr-"

"You showed your stomach to a GIR-?!"

"SHUT UP! Victor! Look what you've done! Katie is just my friend, we get placed together in basically all of our subjects!" 

Hugh waggled his eyebrows and Millard wiped away an imaginary tear.

"That's what they all say!-"

"Our little baby is growing up!" And eventually Victor had to stop himself from laughing as his brother was attacked with questions from all sides, previous conversation forgotten. For now.

"And hey! Guys, what If you were focussing on the wrong person? What if I wasn't a Katie person, what If I was a _jack _person?" He demanded playfully. The rest of the car was silent for a split second before Jacob took it upon himself to answer. 

"Hey, Horace, bud, if you went out with Jack we wouldn't judge you, it would be completely fine! You kn-" Victor laughed.

"Jacob don't listen to him. Jack's also a girl." 

Once again the car was engulfed in chaos.

  


  


  


Two hours later, they had managed to make it to the port, where they were in line behind around five other cars in a queue, waiting for their chance to board. Time always seems to go slower the closer you are to the target. The ferry gleamed white in the near distance, a massive play thing on a blue carpet that swallowed up anything and everything. The conversation had died down earlier, and now Horace, hugh and Enoch were peacefully dozing against their respective windows, and soft pop music made it's way around the van towards Victor, who was packing his book away, and Millard, who was busy trying to tickle the back of hughs neck.

The harsh horn of a nearby car horn woke them all up a second later though, startling them. Hugh snapped his head back as he woke up, catching Millards hand between his neck and the headrest, causing him to screech and yank his hand back. Good times. Horace and Enoch rubbed their eyes to get rid of sleep and yawned as hugh and millard started bickering again. Horace groaned and tried to hunker down to sleep again, flipping his hood up and hiding his face, but Victor poked him.

"Nope, gotta stay awake now. We'll be getting on the ferry in 10 minutes once all the buses have gone first and Jacob gives the warden the details of the trip." Horace grumbled but complied, trying desperately to stay awake. True to his word a man and woman stepped up to the drivers window as they crawled along at a small pace, now at the front of the queue. 

"Hello everyone, can we see any identification and proof of passage onto this ferry?" Jacob nodded, and handed the woman and man a clump of passports that all held their grainy pictures, and, not sure he could somehow prove it using his phone, had printed out screenshots of the tickets and presented them to man. They made small talk while they were assessed, the two wardens friendly and welcoming, despite the slight drizzle that was starting up.

"You kids off to France? I hear it's mighty nice! How old are you son, anyway? You don't look a day over 16!" The man questioned, nodding at the tickets and handing them back.

Jacob smiled as he passed them to enoch, who tucked them away safely in a small rucksack. 

"I'm actually 17, sir. The youngest is 13 if you couldn't tell by his height in the back."

"Jacob I swear to god." 

The woman was done examining the passports, and asked them for their names and ages rapidly.

"I'm Jacob Portman, 17."

"Enoch O'Connor, 17."

"Hugh Apiston, 17."

"Millard Nullings, 16 although not for long." 

"Was that necessary?-"

"Horace somnusson and I'm 13."

"Victor bruntley and I'm 16." 

The two wardens shared a look before walking away slightly, conversing with low tones.

"What the fuck are they talking about?" Hugh asked, before being scolded on his language once again. 

Enoch groaned in eternal pain. "I swear to god if we can't get on this bloody ferry now...."

The wardens returned and the woman leaned through the window, Jacob leaning to the side to give her more room.

"You, Horace." She pointed at him in the back, where he looked surprised. "How long have you been thirteen?" She asked.

Everyone looked confused, but he answered nonetheless.

"Um, about three months I think miss. Why?" 

The wardens once again shared a couple of words, before the man made a shrugging motion and walked off, presumedly onto the next car. 

"It's alright hon, we just have to ask because as there's no adults in the car, we have to think of your safety. While you're all minors, the rest of your friends can drive and do hell of a lot more. But I'm willing to give you all the benefit of the doubt and trust you with him. Not a scratch, you hear?" She said kindly to the car, and they all nodded their consent. 

The car rolled away finally as they went to drive up the ramp that would take them to the underbelly parking bay of the boat.

"I bloody hate being the youngest." 

  


Twenty minutes later they opened the doors to the van and stepped out for the first time in hours. Enoch groaned as he cracked his back and Hugh was whimpering for the bathroom, murmuring a string of hurryuphurryuphurryup's. It was unlikely they'd come back down to the van for a couple of hours, or until they reached the opposite docks, so they each grabbed something to keep them entertained and put them into Enochs trusty rucksack, which he dutifully swung over one shoulder effortlessly. Hugh and Millard had packed a laptop and a kindle fire respectively, Victor had chosen his latest novel, Horace took his iPod, and Jacob and Enoch just brought chargers for their phones, which everyone had in their pockets anyway. 

Hugh was practically doing the Irish jig at this point trying to hold it in, so they followed the crowd as quickly as possible up two levels and looked at the maps on the walls as they went, until they finally found the location of the nearest bathroom. 

"Out of my way please!" Hugh cried as he pushed passed Enoch, who made a vicious swipe at the brunettes retreating back, who ignored him and disappeared into one of the stalls with a mighty slam of the door, scaring an old man waking past. The rest of the boys rolled their eyes as they separated to do their own business. Victor didn't really need to go at the moment, so he leant against the wall texting Bronwyn as he waited for his brothers to reappear. Hugh and Horace appeared first, washing their hands. Hugh had the look of pure relief on his face, and said, 

"Phew. That was a close one." To which Horace made a sound of disgust and slapped his arm. Not that Victor complained, he just beat him to it.

Five minutes later after everyone had washed and dried their hands they made their way as a group towards the crowded, spacious sitting Area near the on board Costa. **_(A/N, the ferry I was on had a Costa, gift shop, arcade, many many toilets, an unnamed coffee shop, and many vending machines, along with a small casino and a separate "cafe" where adults could purchase alchohol.) _**

They somehow managed to scavenge seats near the large floor to ceiling window, which showed the (slowly) shrinking land in the distance. Hugh was bouncing at the prospect of an arcade, but they had shit to discuss first. 

The first thing they discussed was where they would be sleeping during the nights. They would spend a week in France, docking in Calais and they would spend a night in a hotel there, and would leave for Lyons in the morning. The problem was, the hotel they were staying in only had three beds, and they would all have to share a room.

Jacob slapped his hands over his eyes as he listened to hugh and Millard complain. 

"But jaaaaake" Hugh whined. "I don't want to share a bed!" 

"Then sleep on the floor."

Millard floundered. "We need our own space! We are growing boys! Don't put me with hugh, please!" 

"Jesus Christ Millard it's one night! You're complaining more than the actual child right now!" 

"I'm used to sharing rooms with people. I lived in a boarding school you two, privacy wasn't an bloody option. Suck it up and you can have different beds." 

"Fair enough." 

Suddenly Hugh jumped up and grabbed Horace and Millard with a beaming smile.

"Now THATS sorted let's go to the arcade!" 

"Hugh wai-" but they were already gone, dragged behind a hyperactive teen hellbent on getting those games. 

"He has his wallet with euros doesn't he?" 

"No. But one of the others defiantly have." 

"I swear to god he never thinks things through does he?"

"No."

  


  


Half an hour and 3 lattes later, the three teens stood up from the table and set off to join the rest of the family in the arcade, planning to kill at least a small portion of time and plus, they needed to stop Hugh from spending all of his euros. 

It took 3 wrong turns and 10 minutes to find the arcade, and when they did they could immediately find them. 

Because they had attracted a crowd. 

Hugh and Millard were viciously dancing on the just dance machine, feet flying and arms waving like blurs as people cheered them on. Timber was blasting from the machine and rattled as they slammed their feet down on the correct tiles. They joined in the crowd and cheered them on aswell, making bets on who would win. Enoch though that Millard would win and Jacob and Victor thought that hugh would win. Calculation vs pure hyperactivness. 

In the end though, Millard won, if only because hugh tripped over his own feet. They waved as they walked off the machine to allow a little boy and girl have their turn, bowing playfully as they went. They met eachother and laughed, panting heavily. 

"Jesus Christ I need a drink after that." Hugh huffed. Enoch shook his head.

"We just bloody walked down you can wait for ten minutes." And Hugh and Millard groaned. 

"You two!" Victor exclaimed. "Where the hell is Horace?" The two teens in question froze, before craning their heads. 

"Oh shit.", they said in unison. Victor resisted the urge to throttle them. Jacob put in his own two cents bravely, choosing his words carefully to not envoke the wrath of Victor bruntley.

"It's a ferry, Victor. It's not like he could go anywhere."

"I think I saw him head to the back earlier..." Millard weakly said, meeting victors eyes and grimacing a smile. 

They wove through the slightly crowded area towards the back, where Millard had claimed to see him go. The farther they got back, the more violent the games got. It went from claw machines to car games to warfare games. 

They broke through a throng of other teens and found him at last, right near the back of the arcade. 

He was standing in front of a large screen, back turned to them slightly and holding a large fake gun. They could faintly hear screams and gunfire erupt from the machine. There was another boy next to him around the same age, and they were talking about something as they pulled the "triggers" and "reloaded." Victor walked forward and clapped him on the shoulder, making him jump a bit, before smiling and returning to his game. 

"Hey guys! I got bored of watching Millard and Hugh dance and this game was free so I wanted to try it instead. It's much more fun."

"Hey we resent that!" 

"Yeah!" 

Victor and jacob flinched as blood splattered on screen with a pain filled scream, before the title displayed 'insert €1 to continue', and a timer. 

Horace put the gun back into the holder and waved to the boy next to him goodbye, which was returned with a smile. 

"I didn't know you liked those kind of games?" Enoch asked as they exited the arcade, making their way towards the upper level cafe once again. 

"I normally don't, but it turns out I'm really good at it." 

They spent the next couple of hours drifting around the ferry, finding themselves on the outside level more than once and they gorged Themselves on cookies and pananis and toasties from the nearest cafes. Horace and Jacob drifted off at one point for an hour, leaning against eachother and the windows as the rest of them gave in to their electronics. 

It was now 4PM, and they were all watching the beautiful cliffs of Calais approach, where they would dock. They took photos of the green sea and the white cliffs to post on their instagrams, and allowed themselves to walk back down to the van and re-settle down again. 

The ferry docked at Calais at 4:35PM, settling itself into its own little alcove and settling down for a bit until it had to make the journey again. It took another 20 minutes just to get out of the boat itself, and everyone was bleary eyed with boredom. Even Hugh was quiet. But at last, at long long last, they were out. They repeated the process that they had on different soil in reverse, and put their wheels to good use, this time, on the foreign roads of France. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh.....I'm not...dead? I still can't write though, so that's a consistency I'll never lose.

**Author's Note:**

> Bro like.......i cant even write why am I here


End file.
